Abstract
This January issue of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research (JMMR) includes an editorial, a call for papers for a forthcoming special issue on “Advancing Qualitatively-Driven Mixed Methods Research: Tackling Societal Challenges” (Hesse-Biber, 2025), and five articles. Before discussing the issue, we wish to provide our sincere appreciation to José F. Molina-Azorin, who steps down from his position as co-editor in chief of JMMR after 9 years of service. Through his tenure, JMMR has maintained excellent quality and expanded its reach. José has been a terrific colleague. We will miss working with him and his mentorship, and we hope to continue to see him in the mixed methods community. As José leaves, Sergi Fàbregues begins as the newest co-editor in chief of JMMR. We look forward to working together and to working with the entire editorial team and our authors.
In the editorial of this issue, Fàbregues and Guetterman (2025) provided considerations for the field when conducting mixed methods systematic methodological reviews. These types of reviews have expanded and remain important for the continually developing field of mixed methods research. As the methodology of mixed methods evolves, systematic methodological reviews survey the landscape, identify common and promising practices along with pitfalls, and provide guidance to anyone interested in mixed methods research. Fàbregues and Guetterman (2025) discuss challenges with systematic methodological reviews, future directions, and guidance for future submissions to JMMR.
Next, Hesse-Biber (2025) provides a call for papers for a special issue in which she will serve as guest editor. Qualitatively-driven mixed methods research has grown into a popular and powerful approach used by many mixed methods researchers.
Regarding the articles published in this January 2025 issue, in the first article, Hall and Mansfield (2025), with affiliation in health research and life sciences, applied pillar integration processes to two studies evaluating a workplace sit-stand desk intervention. The authors described their process and shared pillar building joint displays for an integrative analysis of the results to develop interpretations and another case-oriented integrative analysis. The examples along with reflections on the benefits and challenges of applying pillar integration will be particularly useful to individuals employing the process.
In the second article, Samuelsson (2025), with affiliation in language studies, applied mixed methods research to the study of video-based interactions. Samuelsson (2025) examined how children interacted with touch screens and advanced a mixed methods embodied interaction model. A mixed methods approach was necessary to integrate the frequencies of child and teacher actions with qualitative moment-by-moment observations. This model of analysis can be applied to study of complex interactions. Readers who have the potential to collect video data will find it useful.
In the third article, Xiao et al. (2025), with affiliations in health sciences, used an intersectional framework and abduction to study healthy aging among older New Zealand men. Through the framework, they focused on intersections of age, ethnicity, and resident location to understand determinants of healthy aging. The intersectional framework was at the center of their mixed methods design. Through qualitative exploration, they examined these intersections, and through a quantitative phase, they tested the effects of the interactions. As more intersectional research is conducted to study complex topics, this article provides an excellent example of its use with a mixed methods approach.
In the fourth article, Schirmer et al. (2025), with affiliations in social sciences and technology, compared torture-related witness statements during the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, a trial of genocide that occurred in Cambodia. They presented a novel mixed methods approach that integrates natural language processing, sentiment analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis. In addition to leveraging technology, they demonstrate a use of data transformation in mixed methods research. The article focuses on a very interesting yet sobering topic, while contributing to methodological advances.
Finally, the fifth article is a Research Note by Guan et al. (2025), with affiliations in epidemiology and biostatistics, social innovation and urban opportunity, community health, education and integrative studies, and Africana studies. The research note illustrated the intersection of mixed methods research with community-based participatory research (CBPR) to understand community needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of their data and focus was at the neighborhood level. This Research Note will be particularly helpful to those intersecting CBPR with mixed methods research and to those studying neighborhoods.
This issue contains an important editorial, interesting articles that include novel mixed methods approaches and illustrate the application of techniques. We hope you will find the January 2025 issue helpful to your mixed methods research.